Fruit and berry washing and grading equipment



April 13, 1943. J, EvE'rf FRUIT AND BERRY WASHING m5 GRADING EQUIPMENT w1 m t N Kw E M .WN t E R N m M J m 0 R m l A. 9 l 0 3 l nu. m d e 1 mApril 13, 1943. R. J. EVETT V 2,316,159

.FRUIT AND BERRY WASHING AND GRADING EQUIPMENT Fiied April 50, 19.41 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 13, 1943 FRUIT AND BERRY WASHING ANDGRADING EQUIPMENT Roy James Evett, Seattle, Wash.

Application April 30, 1941, Serial No. 391,080

1 Claim.

This invention relates to berry and fruit washing equipment, and it hasreference more par ticularly to improvements in apparatus or means forthe washing, conveying and grading of berries, such as blackberries,loganberries, Olympic berries and the like; it being the principalobject of the present invention to provide novel means for the quick,effective and economical washing of such berries without requiring thatthey be handled during the washing operation and without their beingfloated in or being piled up in water to become damaged or water soakedin the operation. 7

Another object of this invention is to provide a berry washing andcleaning means wherein an endless belt, of open character, is employedto convey the berries through a, housing in which water spray heads arelocated both below and above the belt for directing sprays or jets ofwater against the berries for an effective washing and rinsing thereof.

It is a further object of thlsinvention to provide for an automaticgrading of berries, according to size, in their delivery by the belt.

Still further objects of the present invention reside in the details ofconstruction of the belts, as herein employed for the conveyance ofberries through the washing housing, cooling zone and grading stations;these belts being made up of individual, longitudinally extending andspaced strands of wire, located sufficiently close together to provide asupporting bed for the conveyance of a layer of berries thereon, yetspaced far enough apart to permit the'quick and eliective Washing ofberries by the directing of water sprays downwardly and upwardly throughthe belt, and also allowing a, quick draining of the wash water from theberries.

Still another object of this invention is to provide means adapted foruse in conjunction with conveyor belts of the present kind for theslicing or dividing of pieces of fruit.

Finally there are various other objects residing in the details ofconstruction and in the combination of parts, and in their mode ofoperation, as will hereinafter be fully described.

In accomplishing the above mentioned objects of the invention, I haveprovided the improved details of construction, the preferred forms ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, Wherein- Fig. 1 is adiagrammatic illustration showing, in side view, a berry and fruitwashing, freezing and grading equipment embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same parts.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the berry washing housing,particularly illustrating the disposition of the water spray heads aboveand below the conveyor belt.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of the washing housing and belt, takenon the line 4-4 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail, partly in elevation and partly in longitudinalsection, of one of the belt mounting rollers.

Fig. 6 is a. similar detail of another of the belt mounting rollers.

Fig. 7 is a view illustrating the relative disposition of knives of anovel type of fruit slicing device, as used with the present type ofbelt.

Fig. 8 is a side view of the parts shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a View showingin plan, the disposition of the fruit slicingmeans relative to the conveyor belt.

Referring more in detail to the drawings- In Figs. 1 and 2, I haveillustrated, somewhat diagrammatically, the arrangement of parts in thepresent berry washing and grading equipment. In these two views, Idesignates a housing, or enclosure, preferably of the rectangular formshown, through which an endless conveyor belt 2 is mounted for travel.It will be observed further that this belt has its top run disposed fortravel horizontally, and passes through openings 3 and 4, in oppositeend walls of the housing. The end portions of the top .run of the beltextend substantial distances beyond the end walls of the housing, and,at its ends, the belt is supported by passage about rollers 5 and 6. Thebottom run of the belt, as noted in Fig. 1, extends over guide rollers land 8, which are supported from opposite ends of the housing supportingstructure. Also, the belt is engaged, at a point between the rollers 8and B, by a belt tightening or tension roller l0 adapted to keep thebelt sufficiently taut for its intended use.

That portion of the belt that extends from the roller 5 to the housing,is designed to receive the berries thereon for delivery through thewashing housing, and that portion of the top run of the belt whichextends between the housing and the supporting and driving roller 6, isconvenient for, and is intended to be used for, inspection of the washedberries after passing from the housing, so that any undesirable orspoiled berries may be picked oiT.

Inside the washing housing I, and located substantially above, and alsobelow the level of the conveyor belt are water spray heads l2 as notedin Figs. 3 and 4, which are connected by pipes 13 and M with a supplypipe l leading from a source of supply of water under pressure. Thesesprays are so disposed as to direct the sprays of water against the beltover its full width and to the full length of that portion within thehousing.

The conveyor belt 2 is made up of a plurality of endless strands of wireas designated in Fig. 4 by reference numeral 2a. These several Wirestrands extend lengthwise of the belt and are equally spaced aparttransversely of the belt. The spacingof the strands is such thatberries, when placed on the belt as in Fig. 3, will be supported andcarried, and will not pass between the strands in the washing operation.

In order to hold the wires of the belt desired spacing, the roller 5which supports the in this belt 2 at its receiving end, is formed withencircling grooves, as at IS in Fig. 6; each groove being of a width tocontain one of the wires therein. Preferably this roller would be castof or plated with a stainless metal and the grooves would be of suchdepth and width as to easily receive and retain the wire. a The roller6, at the delivery end of the belt, is intended to be the belt drivingroller, and is made somewhat greater in diameter than the roller 5, andis equipped at one end with a pulley It for a driving belt l9. Thisdriving roller, as shown in Fig. 5, comprises a cylindrical hub portionGa, equipped at regularly spaced intervals therealong with narrowencircling flanges 6b, each formed about its periphery, coaxially of theroller", with a groove 6!] adapted to receive one of the wire strands ofbelt therein.

If it is found desirable, belt supporting rollers 24-24, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2, maybe employed to support the top run of belt 2, andprevent sagging of any of its strands under weight of berries placedthereon.

Assuming the belt 2 to be so arranged and to be mounted on the rollers 5and 6 and driven in the direction indicated by the arrows adjacentthereto, it will be understood that berries placed on the top run of thebelt between the roller 5 and entrance opening 3 into the housing I,will be carried into the housing with travel of the belt and may beeffectively and thoroughly washed and rinsed by reason of the watersprays directed thereagainst from the heads I2 above and below the belt.The wash water will be drained from the housing through a suitabledrainage outlet such as has been indicated at 25, in Fig. 3. As the beltpasses from the housing, the washed berries carried thereon may beeasily inspected,

and defective berries, and any foreign matter, may

be picked from the belt before delivery of the berries from its end. Itis to be understood that due to the spacing of the wire strands, waterwill quickly drain from the berries andthe undesirable eifects ofordinary processes of berries being emersed, or soaked in water, isavoided.

It will be understood also by reference'to Figs. 1 and 2, that a secondsection of conveyor belt 3!] extends from the roller 6, serving somewhatas a continuation of belt 2, through a cooling zone confined by thehousing 35. This belt operates through openings in the opposite endwalls of the housing and passes about a supporting roller 36 at itsouter end. The roller 6 in this instance, in addition to being thedriving roller for the belt 2, also drives the belt 30, and it will beunderstood that the belt is comprised of continuous strands of wire inspaced, parallel arrangement, like those of belt 2 and that its severalstrands, in passing around the roller 6, are contained and guided withinthe peripheral grooves of encircling flanges on the roller. .The wiresmaking up the belt 30 alternate in their passage about the roller 6,with those strandsof wire forming the belt 2.

It will be understood that with this arrangement of belts, the berries,after being washed in housing 2, and inspected, will be delivered frombelt 2 directly onto continuing belt 30, and will be carried on thelatter into the cooling or freezing zone. This zone should be of suchtemperature that when the berries emerg therefrom, they will be incondition to be delivered into cold storage. It is desirable, however,that the berries, before passing into cold storage, should be gradedaccording to size. Therefore, I have, for this purpose, provided as acontinuation of the belt 30 which carries the berries through thecooling zone, a grading belt 40, made up of a plurality oflongitudinally extending, continuous strands of Wire that extend at oneend of the belt, of the roller 36 in grooves located between those thatreceive the strandsforming the belt 35!, and then passing about a rollerM at its outer end which has grooves receiving and spacing the strandsfarther apart than they are spaced at their receiving end of the belt.The latter roller is so designed that-the wires comprising the belt 40,and which are designated at 40' in Fig. 2, will be caused to equallydiverge, as will be understood by reference to the showing of this beltin Fig. 2.

Operating transversely below the top run of this grading belt are asuccession of belts designated at 45, 41 and 48, adapted to receivethereon the berries as they fall through the belt 48. The belts 46, 41and 48 are driven so as to convey the different grades of berries, asreceived thereon, to receptacles at the ends of the belts, in which, oron which the berries may be placed in cold storage. Assuming that thegrading belt 40 is so constructed, it will be understood that theberries conveyed thereon will fall through the belt because of theincreasing divergence of its strands; the smaller berries falling on thefirst belt, the somewhat larger berries falling on the second belt andthe still larger berries falling on the third belt. This affords an easyand automatic grading operation.

Since the present equipment is useful also for the washing of fruit ofvarious kinds, it is conternplated also that, in conjunction with thepresent type of wire strand belt, fruit slicing disks or knives, asillustrated in Figs. '7, 8 and 9, may be used. It will be understoodthat when fruit piece-s such as half peaches, designated at 5!], aredelivered on the belt, theymay be directed, by

means of guides as shown at 5| in Fig. 9, to a certain portion of thebelt for delivery to the slicing knives.

In the present instance, I have illustrated a slicing equipmentembodying three disk-like knives, 65, 66 and 61. The knives aresupported in radially converging planes with their bottom edges disposedbetween adjacent strands of the wire of the belt 2 and passing slightlybelow the plane of the belt. Each disk has its driving axle 68 mountedin a supporting bearing 69 and equipped with a pulley '70, designed toreceive a driving belt H. In order that the disks may all be driven inproper direction, and at proper speed, I locate a driven shaft 12transversely above the belt and this is equipped with pulleys 73 overwhich the driving belts ll extend. Any suitable means may be providedfor driving the shaft 12.

With the disk knives so arranged, and driven, it will be understood thatthe pieces of fruit, ad-

vanced thereagainst on the belt, will be sliced by the knives, and theslicing is effective due to the fact that the knives can pass entirelythrough the fruit without interference by the belt.

Equipment of this character may be made in various sizes and providesfor the easy, quick and effective washing and grading of fruit orberries at a relatively small expense.

While I have illustrated and described the conveyor belts as being madeup of wire strands, it is to be understood that I also contemplate theuse of flat strips of metal or any other suitable material.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is In a berry washing machine of thecharacter described, a continuous conveyor for the washing and gradingof berries as conveyed thereon from a receiving to a discharge point,and comprising a succession of belt sections, each section being made upof a plurality of spaced individual belt strands of wire extendinglengthwise of the belt and on which berries may bejf. conveyed, beltmounting rollers at the ends of each section, formed with encirclinggrooves for reception and guidance of the belt strands therein, adjacentends of the belt sections being-carried by the same rollers and thesection of the belt at the delivery end being carried at its dischargeend about a roller wherein the guide grooves are spaced in a manner tocause divergence of the belt strands for the grading of berries ascarried therealong by permitting them to fall between the strands.

ROY JAMES EVET'I.

